SAL1 Charleston RiverDogs

RiverDogs Clip Grasshoppers, 3-2

Published on July 14, 2011 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston RiverDogs News Release


GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Charleston RiverDogs broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run sixth inning and held on for a hard fought 3-2 win over the Greensboro Grasshoppers in South Atlantic League action Thursday night in front of a crowd of 6,639 fans at NewBridge Bank Park.

Charleston put a halt to a two-game losing streak and improved to 10-11 this half and 36-55 overall with the victory, while Greensboro fell to 11-10 and 51-40.

Greensboro plated a first inning run for the second consecutive night to take a 1-0 lead off Charleston starter Jose A. Ramirez (4-3).

Noah Perio lined a double to left field out of the leadoff spot, and came in touch home two batters later when Christian Yelich produced an RBI groundout.

Charleston retaliated by loading the bases against Jheyson Manzueta (2-9) in the top of the second, as they managed to scratch out a run to knot the score at 1-1. Kevin Mahoney jumpstarted the rally with a single and crossed the plate on a Jose Mojica sacrifice fly to the opposite field.

Both hurlers settled into a groove in the middle innings, matching each other zero-for-zero from innings three through five.

Ramirez responded from a rough outing in his last time on the bump, yielding just the one run on three hits and three walks, while striking out five.

Manzueta set down nine of the ten RiverDogs he faced in the middle innings, but ran into a roadblock in the sixth, as Charleston forged a 3-1 advantage and forced him from the contest.

Gary Sanchez reached on a fielder's choice following a Ramon Flores walk, and moved into scoring position on a Mahoney single to right field. Kyle Higashioka strided to the plate next and reached on an error by Grasshoppers third baseman Ryan Fisher, allowing Sanchez to come around with the go-ahead marker.

With the lead already in tow, Garrison Lassiter worked a two out walk to slide Mahoney over to second base and extend the frame for Mojica. Chris Shafer came on to face the Charleston shortstop, but could not prevent him from picking up his second RBI of the night, as Mojica legged out an infield single to up the cushion to 3-1.

Manzueta was sharper than he has been throughout much of the season, but was hurt by his defense. The right-hander permitted the three runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks, fanning two in the process.

Aaron Dott continued his stellar work out of the Charleston bullpen since joining the club, penning 3.0 scoreless innings in relief of Ramirez, while scattering three base hits and notching four punch outs.

The RiverDogs offense was unable to produce any insurance for closer Mark Montgomery, but the fire balling Longwood University product was able to protect the narrow lead to collect his fifth save.

Brian McConkey's RBI groundout trimmed the Grasshoppers deficit to 3-2 and put the tying run 90 feet away, but Montgomery got a fly out from Perio to end it and give Charleston a shot at a series split tomorrow.

The RiverDogs and Grasshoppers wrap up their four-game series on Friday at 7:05 p.m. Left-hander Steve Evarts (1-2, 4.64 ERA) is set to take the ball for Charleston, versus right-hander Zachary Neal (5-6, 4.44 ERA) of the Florida Marlins affiliate.

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 14, 2011


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